Deutsche Bank has appointed Quang Huynh as acting chief country officer (CCO) for Vietnam, pending the state bank’s approval.

Once approval is granted, Huynh will become the bank’s Vietnam CCO permanently.

Huynh replaces Hans-Dieter Holtzmann, who took up a managing director role at the bank in April, based in Frankfurt.

Huynh moves from Vietnam’s Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank, where he was CEO. He has also held roles at HSBC in Jakarta and Singapore, as managing director and regional head of trade and receivables respectively, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Based in Ho Chi Minh City, Huynh is now responsible for leading the growth of Deutsche’s Vietnam business. The bank’s focus in the country is to provide finance and advisory solutions to corporates.

Since 2017, Deutsche has raised more than US$1bn in debt, loan and equity capital annually for corporates in Vietnam.

Alexander von zur Muehlen, CEO for Asia Pacific, says: “With Vietnam a key growth market for our bank in Asean, we are delighted to have an individual of Quang’s calibre and experience leading the next phase in the expansion of the local franchise.”

Earlier this year, the bank announced it is investing in Vietnam to support higher trade flows from Europe, expected to increase following the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) ratified at the end of June.

The deal eliminates 99% of tariffs between the EU and Vietnam. Now that it has entered into force, 65% of duties on EU exports to Vietnam will disappear immediately, while the remainder will be phased out gradually over a period of up to 10 years. Meanwhile, 71% of duties on Vietnamese exports to the EU have been eliminated straightaway, with the remainder being phased out over a period of up to seven years.

The EU’s key exports to Vietnam include electrical machinery and equipment, aircraft, vehicles, and pharmaceutical products, while Vietnam sends electronics, footwear, textiles and clothing, coffee, rice, seafood, and furniture to EU consumers.